IMAGING

Earth-i and Telespazio Vega Sign Memorandum

Earth-i UK has signed a MoU with space technology and enabled services specialist, Telespazio VEGA. This MoU will permit each company to provide each other’s specialist products and services to their respective customers. In the case of Earth-i, this will permit them to provide new and existing customers with advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation alongside their existing optical data.

China launches YAOGAN- 30

China successfully conducted its fifth orbital launch this year, sending the Yaogan-30 remote sensing satellite into space. The spacecraft lifted off at 10:43 a.m. local time on May 15 atop a Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located at Jiuquan in northwest China’s Gansu Province. Yaogan-30 was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) of 429 by 437 miles (690 by 704 kilometers) with inclination at 98.23 degrees. It now remains in an orbit of 389 by 407 miles (626 by 655 kilometers), inclined 98.07 degrees. www.spacefiightinsider.com

Mapping satellite puts China among best in the business

China launched a high-resolution mapping satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province. Also on board were two NewSat satellites from Uruguay. Ziyuan III 02 will be used in land resource surveys, natural disaster prevention, agricultural development, water resources management and urban planning. www.shanghaidaily.com

ISRO signs MoUs for space exploration with 37 countries

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed MoU/ Cooperative agreements for exploration and use of outer space with 37 countries viz. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Norway, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Venezuela. The areas of these explorations will include newer research activities in Joint development of advanced scientific instruments to observe earth and universe; joint realization of satellite missions; jointly carrying out calibration and validation experiments; conducting airborne campaign with advanced instruments; deep space navigation and communication support for space science missions; development of advanced technologies for building and launching of spacecrafts for earth observation and space science exploration.

China’s Earth observation satellite assists Ecuador quake relief

China has offered a set of hi-resolution imageries of the Ecuador quake zone, captured by satellite Gaofen-2 to aid relief work, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The earthquake, the strongest in Ecuador for over 35 years, has claimed more than 500 lives, and injured nearly 6,000 others.

The images of the region before and after the quake were provided after a request from the Ecuador’s government.